Known in the prior art are conveyors for transporting a product, in particular in the form of articles of the tissue industry. These conveyors comprise means for supporting and guiding an endless conveyor belt of the type with articulated links, and means for driving the conveyor belt comprising means for engaging the respective conveyor belt link and, more specifically, means which are adapted to engage a rear-facing surface of the respective conveyor belt link.
These articulated link conveyors of the prior art type comprise respective drive means which consist of a suitably power-driven drive wheel provided at one end of the conveyor belt constituting an inverting drive end where the conveyor belt changes its direction of motion, between an upper positive feed stretch with the products on it and a return stretch.
At the end opposite the drive end of the conveyor belt, an idle or driven wheel is provided where the conveyor belt simply changes its direction of motion, between the return stretch and the positive feed stretch with the products on it.
In prior art conveyors, therefore, since drive is provided by means of a wheel located at a respective end of the conveyor belt itself, the length of the conveyor belts is limited and it is not possible to make conveyor belts of desired length for lines which are particularly long. Thus, to convey the product for long distances, the conveying path must be divided into different zones, each served by a respective endless conveyor belt, between which respective transfer zones or tables are provided. These have the effect of hampering feed flow, by slowing or stopping the products and what is more, in such situations, creating the risk of damaging the products.
Whatever the case, a need which is felt in the industry is that of having conveyors which cover greater distances than those available up to now and/or which provide a particularly effective driving action, with the added advantage of savings in energy costs.
Moreover, the drive systems used in these conveyors necessarily involve making conveyor belts with an upper positive stretch and a lower negative stretch which reduces versatility of use and which requires abundant amounts of material to cover the return distances.
A need which is felt in the industry is that of having conveyor solutions which are particularly easy to implement and install and/or which are relatively inexpensive.